November 21, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany has announced another tranche of military aid to Ukraine, which includes ammunition for MARDER infantry fighting vehicles, 47 mine-resistant armored personnel carriers (MRAPs), and a TRML-4D radar, 4 Panzerhaubitzen 2000 self-propelled howitzers with spare parts and more than 40 thousand rounds of ammunition (155 mm caliber), 20 VECTOR reconnaissance drones, 12 HORNET XR reconnaissance drones, 100 RQ-35 HEIDRUN reconnaissance drones, 120 SONGBIRD reconnaissance drones, 60 Golden Eagle reconnaissance drones, 2 VT-4 Ray reconnaissance drones, two BIBER bridge - laying tanks, three WISENT 1 demining tanks with spare parts, eight Caracal tactical vehicles, 20 armored vehicles for the Border Guard Service, six M1070 Oshkosh heavy-duty semi-trailers, 100,000 HLR 338 rifles with 314,000 rounds of ammunition, 100,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, and other equipment.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen has said that Ukraine will receive two more batches of Danish F-16 fighter jets, bringing the total to 19. She also said that the government will allocate one billion Danish kroner (about $96 million) to strengthen the Ukrainian defense industry.

US President Joe Biden has approved providing Ukraine with anti-personnel mines capable of self-destructing over time, which makes them safe for civilians in the long run.

The United States is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine worth at least $275 million, which will include air defense systems, HIMARS missile systems, as well as 155-mm and 105-mm artillery shells, Javelin anti-tank ammunition, and other equipment.

In its resolution on the 1,000th day of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada called on the Government of Canada to continue to provide significant military and humanitarian support to Ukrainians in order to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.

“I propose that a large part of the second tranche of revenues (from blocked russian assets) that will be available in March-April (2025) should be focused on the purchase of military equipment for Ukraine directly from their own industrial facilities”, said Josep Borrell, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

“The rf uses troops from the dprk, it launches drones and missiles provided by other parties to strike across the country, destroys civilian, energy infrastructure, which is, and this has been established by the UN, a war crime. So supporting Ukraine in no way turns it into a war between the West and the rf”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg.

Lithuania will allocate another EUR 10 million for the urgent reconstruction of Ukraine's infrastructure.

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“We are not intimidated”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noel Barrot about the change in the rf’s nuclear doctrine.

After the EU imposed higher duties on imports of grains, oilseeds and products of their processing from the rf on July 1, russian grain exports in July decreased four times compared to June, to EUR 2.9 million, and in September they amounted to only EUR 21 thousand.

On November 20, the official dollar exchange rate in the rf was raised to 100.0348 rubles. The russian currency has been weakening for the fourth month in a row: since August, when the dollar was worth 85 rubles, it has risen by 17%. According to analysts, by the end of 2024, russians will have to pay at least 102 rubles for one US dollar.

The federation council has approved a law allowing the central bank of the rf to set limits on mortgage and car loans for russians starting from April 1, 2025. In this way, russian authorities intend to reduce the over-indebtedness of the population, which is increasingly losing its ability to pay.

In the first three quarters of this year, the number of registrations of small and medium-sized companies in the rf decreased by 8%.

The net profit of one of the largest insurance companies in the rf, “renessans strakhovanie”, has more than halved over the past nine months, to RUB 4.5 billion.

In 2024, 230 thousand tons of salmon were caught in the rf, which is by 62% less than a year earlier.

In the first ten months of 2024, the rf produced three times less salmon caviar (10 thousand tons) than in the same period of 2023. The production of structured caviar (caviar mass with the addition of complex food additives) also decreased by 5.5%, to 433 tons, and of imitated red caviar (made from algae, fish broth and special additives) – by 24%, to 544 tons.

On November 20, the dollar rose again and set another historical high of RUB 3.4007 at the rb’s currency and stock exchange, while the euro reached RUB 3.5843.

In October, belarusian legal entities paid higher taxes (for September and the third quarter), so their funds placed on deposits in commercial banks decreased by about 1.5 billion rubles and 124.3 million dollars. The largest decline was in transferable deposits of enterprises: by RUB 1,049.6 million – to RUB 7,404.7 million, by a third more than the decline in October last year. Other ruble deposits of legal entities in October of this year decreased by 216.6 million rubles and amounted to 10,609.9 million rubles as of November 1.

Over the past eight months, “belarusbank” has issued 270 million rubles in loans to citizens for the purchase of belarusian goods at a rate of 4%, which means that as of the beginning of November, the population's debts to banks have increased by 22% and are now at a historic high of 25.6 billion rubles. In October alone, debts increased by 560 million rubles.

The rf has problems with exports of goods and services, prime minister roman golovchenko admitted at a meeting of the council of ministers following the results of the economy's performance in the first nine months of this year. In September, imports of goods exceeded exports by $977 million, an anti-record this year. All in all, the nine-month foreign trade deficit amounted to $3.4 billion.

lukashenko demands to prepare a legislative act under which officials will appoint heads of non-state enterprises: “The head (of the district executive committee) is the head. He has to deal with everything. It's okay if he appoints, approves, and coordinates the heads of private structures. Then he will have influence”.

In November 4 – 16, the rb considered 91 politically motivated criminal cases and convicted 113 people, according to the “Vyasna” Human Rights Center. The most common criminal article under which belarusians were tried is the so-called “people's article”, under which 37 people were convicted.

Since the beginning of November, political repression has intensified in orsha district. Almost every day, the local court considers cases on “extremist articles”, and the siloviki’s greatest attention is drawn to railway workers.